Honoring People Like Family
Notes
Transcript
Warren Brosi
September 28, 2025
Dominant Thought: Christians honor people like family.
Objectives:
I want my listeners to understand how to honor people like family.
I want my listeners to feel inspired to improve a relationship for God’s glory.
I want my listeners to choose one relationship to honor this week.
Did you know God loves people more than you do? Did you know God loves your family more than you? As we move through 1 Timothy, we come to 1 Timothy 5 where Paul continues to family conversation. He highlights several relationships in the church that flow from the family. The big idea for today’s message is, Christians honor people like family. When I think of family, I think of those who live in my home. I think of the people who gather together for holidays and special occasions. Paul uses the family image to build a foundation for the church in Ephesus where Timothy is serving.
As we look over 1 Timothy 5-6.2, let’s examine five relationships Jesus wants us to honor.
First, we honor older adults with respect (1 Timothy 5.1-2).
I appreciate cultures that honor older adults. In the Philippines, I recall the Filipinos calling our missionary friend, Rodger, Sir Rodger. They call his wife, Dixie, or Mom Dixie. Many of the children that enter our home call me Mr. Warren. Parents are training their children to respect older adults.
Paul challenges Timothy not to rebuke an older man. It carries the idea of physical beating. It is better understood as a verbal assault. Instead, we encourage him as if he were your father. Encourage older women as mothers.
As followers of Jesus, we can lead the way of change in our culture by honoring our older adults with respect.
We have an example from the Hebrew Bible in Leviticus 19:32, “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.”
David Faust in his book, Not Too Old, writes, “I am convinced that Scripture has a lot to teach us about aging, and older people have untapped wisdom and ministry potential to be unleashed. No matter how old you are, you are not too old to make a difference” (Page 11).
God’s love for older people is greater than our love for them. Let’s lean into his heart for older people.
Second, we honor young adults with purity (1 Timothy 5.1-2).
Paul encourages Timothy to treat younger men as brothers and younger women as sisters, “with absolute purity” (1 Timothy 5.2). We saw this same word in 1 Timothy 4.12, where Paul encourages Timothy to set and example for the believers in purity. It can mean to act toward young women with a clean heart or clean desires.
A Christians, we honor younger adults like siblings. We even call one another, “Brother,” or “Sister.” We treat people like family. We honor young ladies like a sister. We treat them well and protect them.
God’s love for young adults is greater than ours. Let’s lean into his heart for young adults.
Third, we honor widows with care (1 Timothy 5.3-16).
Now we move into a larger section where Paul instructs about widows. He is specifically addresses widows in the first century church. As we read through these verses, we may find wisdom in how to care for widowers, divorcees, and singles.
As we look through these verses about widows, I want to capture three truths about widows: caring for widows, character of widows, and conduct of younger widows.
Caring for widows (1 Timothy 5.4, 8, 16). Paul teaches that families have the first responsibility for caring for widows in their families. We have three verses that highlight the family’s responsibility in caring for widows in their own family. A widows children and grandchildren should learn first to practice their religion in caring fo their family (1 Timothy 5.4). “To learn” is a disciple word. We define a disciple as a Spirit-filled follower of Jesus learning to love a God and others. Children and grandchildren learn to put their religion into practice by caring for their family.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Then, Paul gives this added bonus, “and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God” (1 Timothy 5.4). Remember how mom and dad sacrificed for you to play sports, take piano lessons, attend camps? Parents and grandparents sacrifice for their kids and grandkids. The least we can do is care for them in the later years. It may be a Sunday afternoon visit at care facility. It may be moving out a sofa to make room for a hospital bed. It may be taking them to doctors appointments again and again.
Paul says, “this is pleasing to the Lord.” Remember God’s love for widows is greater than our love. We need to lean into the heart of God.
In 1 Timothy 5:8, we read, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” They way we care for our family members shows where our faith in Jesus is.
Then, in 1 Timothy 5:16, “If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.” Paul wants families to care for the widows in their own family so the church can be available to help widows who have no children or grandchildren. It’s about managing the resources well.
We reached out to some of our widows and widowers to gain some understanding of how we can care for them and what it’s like to live as a widow or widower. Here are some of their responses.
Since there is no father in the picture it is harder. It is different from being divorced or separated. You don’t have that other half to share responsibilities with.
Half of me is gone.
They have a 50% chance it is going to happen to them while they are married. I can’t say you can prepare for it, but her loss is the hardest death I have experienced. The relationship with a spouse is different, Genesis 2:24 says that. The two become one flesh, losing a spouse is like losing half of yourself. I think about her all the time. One of my take-aways is to cherish your spouse!
Being a widow is a terrible loss. It has made me stronger and I see it from the view that God gives me strength to move forward. I would like them to know that God has a plan. God wants us to have spirits of love.
I wasn’t prepared for how lonely I am. How much I miss being able to talk to my wife. There is a lot of silence in the house and there is a lot of time to reflect about our life.
The best thing to do for your well being is try to stay involved. Go to church and be with friends. Just try not to be alone. The church has been a very welcoming place to be.
Character of widows (1 Timothy 5.3, 5-10). Next Paul highlights the character of widows. This list has some overlap from the character of elders and deacons from 1 Timothy 3. Paul wants honor given to widows who are truly in need. A widow sets her hope on God and prays and asks for help day and night, faithful to her husband, has a reputation for good works, bringing up children, welcoming strangers, serving the saints, caring for the hurting, and devoted herself to every good work.
In Luke 2, we meet a widow who exemplifies these characteristic. She was a prophetess who was at the temple when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple.
There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Paul sets a guideline for widows to be added to the list when they are at age 60. He does have counsel for younger widows.
Conduct of younger widows (1 Timothy 5.11-15). From these verses, it appears that the younger widows who were receiving care from the church may have taken advantage of the church’s generosity. Instead of focusing on caring for family members and the church, they were living for pleasure, becoming idle, busybodies, gossips, going from house to house and saying things they shouldn’t say. Could Paul have in mind some of these ladies when he gave the instructions to the ladies in 1 Timothy 2?
Instead of being idlers and slanderers, he encourages younger widows to focus attention toward their family. To care for people in their home. If God wills them to marry and raise a family, then that’s what He instructs. The big picture is to advance God’s kingdom through the family, whether it’s your biological family or your church family. Build up the family instead of disrupting it.
Remember, God’s love for widows is greater than ours. Let’s lean into His heart for widows, widowers, and singles.
Fourth, we honor elders who serve well with double honor (1 Timothy 5.17-25).
Paul then turns his attention to another relationship in the church and that is for the elders of the church who are serving well. He encourages people to give well serving elders double honor.
Paul is quoting from the Hebrew Bible in Deuteronomy and maybe Jesus from Luke’s gospel.
Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
These verses are a couple examples of financially supporting those who preach and teach. On behalf of our family, I want to thank you for providing for our family over the years. I’m grateful to serve alongside of you and for faithful support and encouragement.
A few years ago, we had the opportunity to honor one of our long-time serving elders, Don Robertson. He’s one that was worthy of double honor. Many of you did not have the opportunity to meet Don. Yet, you have reaped the blessing of his faithfulness. He served as an elder and deacon for Berlin Christian Church for decades. He had a laser focus on Jesus as His Lord and Savior.
In 2018, just a few weeks before Don died I went to his home to share the Lord’s Supper with him. He was quietly engaged in the conversation, but at times I wasn’t sure how much he was really hearing. After a few moments of chit chat, he turned and looked at me, “You got a scripture to read?” I replied, “Yes, I do, Don. Would you like me to read it and have the Lord’s Supper?” “Yes.” was his reply. That was Don, first things first.
Scripture says we give double honor to well serving elders who labor in preaching and teaching.
Paul reminds Timothy to guard against unfounded allegations toward leaders unless they follow the instructions of Moses with two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5.19; Deuteronomy 19.15). But for those who persist in sin, we must rebuke them so that all us may stand in fear. Paul wants Timothy to keep these rules without partiality or favoritism. He also reminds Timothy not to be hasty with the laying on of hands. In other words, don’t put people into leadership until they are ready, until you and they have prayed about it, and until they have been tested (1 Timothy 3.10).
We have this verse that seems out of place when Paul instructs Timothy to drink a little wine for his frequent stomach illnesses. Leading Christ’s church is gut wrenching at times. Take care of your physical health.
God loves leaders more than we do. Let’s lean into God’s heart for leaders.
Fifth, we honor employers with respect for God’s name (1 Timothy 6.1-2).
1 Timothy 6.1-2 is a good example why you keep reading past the chapter division. Paul highlights another relationship. We read it as slaves and masters. In today’s context, it would translate better as employees and employers. Honor your employers with respect.
In the time of this letter, some estimate that 50% of the population was in some form of slavery. It is not the type of slavery we think of here in American leading into the Civil War. When a person accumulated much debt, they willingly became the slave or servant of a person to pay of the debt which may have taken three to six years. The master would work alongside the servant in the fields. The servant would be paid for the work and be able to save money to pay off their debts. (Source: Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, p. 881).
Paul challenges the workers of his day not to take advantage of their employers if they happen to follow Christ, too. Instead, serve your Christian employers even better because they are dear as fellow believers and devoted to the welfare of their workers.
Paul wants the employee and employer relationship healthy out of respect for God’s name and their teaching. We represent the ways of Jesus in the workplace as well as at home or at church.
God loves your boss more than you do. Let’s lean into God’s heart for our employers.
As you look over these five relationships, what one would you like to focus upon this week? Older adults, younger adults, widows and singles, church leaders, or employers/employees? Remember Christians honor people like family.
